Drug Free Communities grant goes to Muhlenberg County Champions

Champions for a Drug Free Muhlenberg County has received a grant to expand the work they do to educate and inform youth on the dangers of substance abuse. The federal grant will provide funding for programs, and a point person within the county health department, to spearhead and coordinate the efforts of a variety of sectors working together to combat drug use in the community.

The grant was awarded by the Drug Free Community Support Program, a federal program providing funds to community coalitions to prevent youth substance abuse. The $101 million grant is awarded each year, and in 2020 went to 201 community coalitions, with 107 new recipients including the program in Muhlenberg County.

Champions for a Drug Free Muhlenberg County will receive $125,000 each year, for five years, and Muhlenberg County Health Department will oversee the grant. A full-time staff member at the health department will manage the program. The grant is for a five year term, and can be renewed for an additional five years.

Champions is an active coalition of people from many sectors in the community, including schools, law enforcement, healthcare, civic organizations, local government officials, media, businesses, youth and parents. The organization includes 32 members, who work toward educating youth and changing the local culture as it relates to substance abuse.

For more than two decades, Champions volunteers have been working directly with schools, hosting educational seminars, and implementing curriculum at all grade levels. They also have provided prescription drug disposal services, support for school resource officers, and run public awareness campaigns in the county.

“There is a pattern of behavior, and kids grow up in that pattern of behavior, so it’s like a norm,” said Cathy Bethel, director of the Muhlenberg County Health Department. Patterns that become norms, and peer pressure to use drugs, is what the Champions have been trying to disrupt. “This is going to help us try and change that pattern,” Bethel said.

The grant focuses on underage drinking, marijuana and prescription drug use, smoking and vaping.

“While overall in the last 20 years, Muhlenberg County’s trend has been downward, and the work of Champions has helped with that,” said Alyssa Manning, from the Felix E. Martin Jr. Foundation, “In the last six years, some of the trends have gone up again, in particular around vaping and tobacco use.”

The foundation currently provides $60,000 each year in funding for the Champions program, and Manning helped with the grant writing process.

Along with the infusion of funds into the program, this grant also requires about six weeks each year of training. This will allow the health department to assign a full-time staff member to this issue, who will have access to a wealth of knowledge that can be gained from being part of the national network of recipients.

This is the third year Champions has attempted to secure this grant, and co-chairs Bethel and Vicki Yonts are thrilled this time they have been accepted. “We are so proud to be recognized for the collaboration between organizations who make up the Champions coalition,” Yonts said. “This award supports our belief that substance use is a community-wide problem and it will take the whole community working together to make a difference.”